Procrastination is the thief of time.
Procrastination is postponing doing something you have to do that you don’t particularly want to do right now.
The idea of procrastination is wrapped up in the concept of distractions, the ability to focus, and the attraction of “shiny objects”, and in today’s multimedia world, distractions abound.
One could argue that during COVID lockdown, we all had a whole lot of time. Many things were postponed or cancelled. Suddenly families had fewer commitments and travel was largely out of the question. We learned how to work at home and be productive when not in the office.
But when you are at home all the time, it is easy to get distracted by household chores or streaming services or the dog or linger over your breakfast newsfeed instead of buckling down to work.
The truth is that we all have no more nor less time in a day than we had before COVID.
How we choose to fill that time is completely up to us, and it is in fact a choice.
4 tips to avoid the results of procrastination
1. Capture distracting thoughts on paper so you can let them go.
Distracting thoughts can derail you.
Write things down in a designated space when you think of them, and then schedule those thoughts into action items in your calendar as soon as you can.
Something I learned during COVID is that distracting thoughts can keep me up at night. I now keep a notebook by my bed, along with a flashlight and a pen. That way I can jot things down at 3:00 a.m. when I think of them.
Once released to paper, your brain can let it go.
2. Embrace the idea of rhythms and routines.
Some people dislike the idea of routines.
If your personality is such that you don’t like to be told what to do, you may not want to "have to do" something on a certain day.
So allow yourself to be flexible.
Nothing is better for housekeeping than establishing some basic routines.
In fact, this is what our grandmothers did. Without the ridiculous distractions we have today, they were able to get on with business and get things done. Here is an old rhyme you may recognize from an old storybook.
Wash on Monday,
Iron on Tuesday,
Bake on Wednesday,
Brew on Thursday,
Churn on Friday,
Mend on Saturday,
Go to meeting on Sunday.
Multiply this concept for your business (client contacts Monday, meetings Tuesday, blog post on Thursday) or your daily family routine (homework done before dinner, shoes placed away when you come in the door, hang your coat and hat) and you have the rhythms of a relaxed, tidy family home.
Establish rhythms in your life and home.
Those rhythms give you energy and purpose and before you know it you are accomplishing more than you thought you could.
3. Recognize that you are procrastinating.
In some ways, this is the single most effective thing you can do to stop procrastinating.
It is so easy to think you are on task and then realize you got distracted.
Pay attention to what you are doing and recover when you notice your purpose has wandered.
Sometimes it is startling to discover at the end of the day that you wasted hours on non-productive tasks.
4. Try the Pomodoro Method.
This technique is quite popular perhaps because it is fairly easy to remember.
First, pick a single task you need to complete.
Next, set a timer for 25 minutes.
Focus on that single task until the timer goes off, then take a 5-minute break.
Reset your timer for another 25 minutes.
Repeat this pattern 3-4 times, and then take a longer break.
You can accomplish a lot in a morning when you focus on something in intervals, knowing that there is a fixed end point to that focus.
Procrastination and Shame
Procrastination can be hard to admit. There is a stigma that somehow you are lazy if you procrastinate.
But we all do it, and it is not always tied to a lack of discipline.
Remind yourself that time is a finite resource. We all get the same amount of it each day.
How you choose to spend that time says a lot about you. Do you spend that time browsing the internet or flipping through social media? Or do you purposely work your priorities to achieve the goals you have for yourself and your family?
Owning your time and controlling where it goes is really an exercise in choosing your legacy.
We all are going to run out of time eventually.
So it is important we spend the time we have on the things we value most – the things that really matter.
When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how.
Let's RETHINK organization together.
For more information, visit the RETHINK website today.
Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes.
RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
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